The Caretaker
by HoneyBoba
Summary: Cedric is asked to keep an eye on Harry after Sirius Black's escape, and Harry expects it to be short lived. To his surprise, Cedric is genuine. Friendship turns into more. During HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Cedric/Harry yaoi title to change
1. Chapter A

Bright, early sunlight filtered through a window into a sleeping person's room. The lump in the bed groaned and flipped over. 'Turn it off… Lord, why must the sun get up so early?' he whined in his head.

It was no use- he was too awake to fall back asleep. Sighing, he pulled himself up and headed for the shower. After lots of scrubbing and eye rubbing, Harry was sparkling clean.

He dressed and walked back to his bed, wondering what to do. Looking around at the quant room, he softly hummed with boredom. His school stuff lay in the corner of the room. His mind wandered back to the incident at the bus stop with those large eyes staring at him out of the bushes. Just an animal. He wasn't afraid of something as small as an animal.

He wasn't allowed to leave the alley, not now and probably not until he got on the train to Hogwarts. He huffed and thought 'To bloody Hell with Sirius Black! Do they honestly believe he'll come and strike me down in broad daylight?'

He fed Hedwig and watched her for a while, and then he looked at the clock; it was 7:18 am. Harry nearly slammed his head against the table. It'd be hours before he could do anything interesting.

He tip-toed over to his door and looked outside- no one. He slowly and silently padded down the stairs of the Leaky Cauldron and noticed no one was down there- which meant no food was down there.

Harry scowled as he heard his stomach growl. He hadn't eaten since about 2 pm yesterday. He skipped dinner because he lost track of time reading a book about Quidditch. He looked at the door and he started thinking about how easy it would be to just leave for a few minutes, get something to eat, and be back before anyone noticed.

Ron and his family wouldn't be coming back until the late afternoon, they had no reason to rent rooms and be there early, and Hermione made it a habit to read until lunch in the summer.

He made his decision and bolted for the door. He walked around the lazy Daigon Alley. After looking around for a while (and drooling at the firebolt), Harry stopped by a cozy cafe, ordered the best pancakes he ever had, and enjoyed watching people slowly walk around. He's strike up light conversations with the other customers and waiteress.

When he finally looked at his watch, his heart nearly skipped a beat. It was already 9 going on 9:30! He paid, thanking the waitress, and rushed back to the pub. He quickly scanned the outside of the building and saw no adults.

'I… I got away with it...' Harry thought in his mind. He grinned with accomplishment and burst through the door. He ran inside, not even bothering to look around, and about 3 steps in he heard a loud "Mr. Potter!" and someone roughly grabbed his shoulder

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the minister of magic staring at him with a wild look. He went white with panic and forgot about the painful clutch on his shoulder. "Were have you been?" the minister demanded. "I-I went out for breakfast because I woke up early and noticed that no food was set out like usual, sir." "Couldn't you have waited for the staff to come down and set up?" "I- I didn't know what time they set up, and stayed close to the Leaky Cauldron." Harry said in a nervous voice.

Harry's attention moved to the people standing behind the minister. An older boy leaned over and said to the minister, "Excuse me, Mr. Fudge, but I do believe that Harry is losing circulation to his arm." Fudge froze for a minute, and then let go laughing. "Right you are, Mr. Diggory! I'm sorry Harry, please forgive me. I was just… overly-zealous in finding out where you had went."

The man behind the boy beamed, and Harry assumed that they were father and son. Fudge turned to Harry and said, "I should have introduced you two, my apologies. Harry Potter, meet 6th year Cedric Diggory. He's been said to be one of the top students at the school, and a mean Quidditch player to boot, I'll tell you, we don't get a Hogwarts student like this very often! Not to mention his father is wonderfully hard worker in the ministry!"

Cedric's father beamed again but Cedric just shifted with a sheepish smile. Fudge continued talking. "Miss Granger asked me to tell you since there are still 2 weeks before school starts, she went back home for a while- she'll be back in a week or so."

Harry wondered why she would go back home, but then remembered Hermione mention that Crookshanks hadn't been doing too well. She must have taken him home to a vet. Fudge then said awkwardly, "I learned that young Mr. Diggory here has nothing to do, and I thought maybe you two could get to know each other- become friends maybe." Harry's eyes moved back and forth from the two men. What Fudge really meant was that he wanted Cedric to be another watchful eye on Harry.

When Fudge and Cedric's father left, Harry had planned on telling Cedric he didn't need a baby-sitter, but Cedric turned to face Harry and shot him an enthusicastic smile. "I'm sorry about that! I know that it must be stressful with all these people always policing your every move." Cedric stuck out his hand and his smile got bigger. "I'm Cedric Diggory."


	2. Chapter B

Harry looked a little warily at the offered hand, but gripped it none the less. Cedric had a firm hold, complimenting his confident disposition.

"Sorry about Fudge earlier, he's going out of his head keeping everything calm with Sirius Black on the loose. I'm also sorry that the adults are always watching you, it must really get on your nerves."

"Well, I'd rather hang with you then some ministry worker. You're the Hufflepuff seeker, aren't you? I'm the Gryffindor seeker." Cedric smiled and said, "Of course, I've seen you on your broom. Very wicked indeed, I've also heard about you being the first first-year seeking in decades."

After a while of talking about Quidditch, Cedric suggested they walk around the alley to get some fresh air. They walked and talked about everything from school to the strange people they saw on the streets.

Just as they were deciding where they should grab lunch, the two boys heard a shout of "Look at what we have here! Move it, Potter!" And suddenly Harry was shoved hard in the side, stumbling a bit to keep his balance. He looked over and let out a furious hiss. "Malfoy, who the bloody hell do you think you are!"

Malfoy was smirking widely. "Oh come on, Potter, don't be a girl. Are you going to throw a fit just because someone 'accidently' knocked into you?" Suddenly, he was lifted up by the back of the neck by a certain Hufflepuff. It wasn't until then that Harry noticed Cedric's large hands and fingers. They almost completely wrapped around Malfoy's neck.

Cedric scowled and said, "I think you owe someone an apology." Malfoy began kicking and yelling "The bloody hell do you think you're doing? Let go of me at once or my father will hear about this!" Cedrick scoffed at the threat.

"To put it simply, I couldn't care less about what you Father would do once he heard about this. Either you apologize now, or you can go ahead and spend all day hanging from the neck until your Daddy shows up." Malfoy's eyes widened as Cedric's grip slightly tightened and he was lifted further off the ground.

"Okay, okay! I'm bloody sorry, POTTER! There you go, now let me down OR ELSE!" Cedric immediately dropped Malfoy and he stumbled. "Just wait until my father hears of this, and then you'll care!"

Mayfoy decided to run for it, Crabbe and Goyel right behind. Cedric turned to Harry and said "I forgot to ask him what conditioner his father uses. It seems to work wonders." Harry let out a laugh, forgetting his anger. "Let's get you back to the Leaky Cauldron, it's probably more peaceful there."

When they got back Cedric said "Wait upstairs if you will, I'll be right back." Harry just nodded and opened his suitcase as Cedric left. After about 5 minutes Harry turned as he heard the door open. Cedric had just stepped in carrying a small paper bag. Harry gave him a puzzled look, slightly tilting his head.

Cedric saw his face and explained. "I realized we haven't eaten yet, so I ran out and got something. I hope you don't mind." Cedric placed the contents of the bag onto Harry's bed and they both sat on opposite sides.

'Wow,' Harry thought, 'what a nice guy. I don't think this'll be as bad as I had anticipated.'


	3. Chapter C

"Wow Harry, I'm glad I brought back a lot. I would have brought you something to eat earlier if you'd told me you were that hungry." Harry's face flushed a deep red. It was a habit he had picked up at the Dursley's. Eat fast so Dudley doesn't have time to ask for what's on your plate, because once he did, uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia made sure Harry gave it away.

A small thought began to form in his head. A question, really. Was this friendliness on Cedric's part going to be short-lived? Would the ministry eventually tell Cedric that he didn't have to watch Harry, or would Cedric eventually find the task of acting nice too tedious?

The only really GOOD friends he had were Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and you might even consider Neville at times. He knew a lot of people but they weren't really friends, acquaintances more like it. Cedric had long finished his feed and leaned back in the bed, lying comfortably with his arms folded behind his head. "Tired?" Harry asked. "Not at all." Cedric grinned softly.

Harry sat there for a couple minutes while Cedric's breathing slowed down. It looked like Cedric was asleep, his body was completely relaxed. "Cedric?" Harry heard his voice say. "Yea?" Cedric said, sounding half asleep. "I'm going to ask you something, okay?" Harry said, staring at Cedric's still calm face. "Go ahead." Cedric said slowly.

"The ministry is making you watch me, right? Did they choose you because they thought, as a student at Hogwarts, you'd be able to relate to me more, thus it'd not only be easier to observe me, but I'd trust you easier?"

Cedric pursed his lips tight and opened one eye lazily in Harry's direction. "Well, yes, I believe that's why they chose me instead having ministry workers do all of it. But I don't mind. I had known of you before this, and figured that getting to know you would be pretty cool."

"Oh… okay, I'm sorry. That was a stupid question." Harry said, clearing his throat in an embarrassed manner. "It's not a stupid question." Cedric said. "I think this situation isn't half bad. I'd definitely like hanging out with you already, and it's only been, what, a morning? Not half bad if you ask me."

"Well I guess that's good then. I'm glad." Harry smiled a little.

Cedric eventually fell asleep. 'Wow, can he really just fall asleep in the same bed as someone else is a pub?'

Harry grabbed the empty bag that held the food and took it downstairs to throw it out. He spotted Mr. Fudge, Mr. Diggory, and a couple other wizards sitting at the tables. When Fudge spotted him, he called Harry over.

"Harry, my boy! How are you doing? I hope Cedric is keeping you out of trouble." Fudge chuckled. Harry paused and said, "Oh yea, we're just upstairs talking about school and stuff." Mr. Diggory replied "Well, that's good! Just try not to run him down, he didn't get to bed until nearly 4 a.m. and I forced him up at about 5:30 a.m." Harry just nodded. 'Ahh, that explains it. 5:30 am. That has to be rough'

When Harry finally crept away from them, he bolted upstairs. He opened the door slowly and saw that Cedric was still out like a light. Harry walked over to the full sized bed and picked up a book to pass the time. Harry glanced over at Cedric every now and again, not being able to get used to someone just sleeping in front of him.

Harry glanced at the clock- it was only 1 p.m. He sighed and fought of his own feelings of sleep.

**2 Hours Later**

Harry slowly opened his eyes. 'Oh… goodness' he said in his mind. He was at the foot of his bed, and stretched. Then he suddenly remembered that Cedric had been sleeping in that bed, too. He looked around. The blonde boy was gone.

Instead of pressing it, he crawled under the covers and slept more.


	4. Chapter D

"Hey, mate, get up! We've finally arrived!"

Harry felt some very heavy push on his chest. He groaned and flipped over, mumbling in his sleep "Dudley…. You don't need any more cake..." Then he was flipped off his bed and onto the floor, his eyes wide open in surprise. "Bloody Hell!" Harry practically shrieked.

He saw Ron laughing uncontrollably and Harry gave a look of desperation. "Couldn't you have WAITED for me to wake up?" Ron gave him an annoyed expression in return and said "No! One, because we FINALLY showed up and I know how much you HAD to have missed me, and two, because that Diggory kid said that you should probably be woken up for dinner."

Harry picked himself up off the floor and said "When did you get here? And where's Cedic?" Ron snorted and replied, "We just walked in the door downstairs and _Mr. Cedric Diggory_is busy being pranced around by his father." Ron grumbled in annoyance.

Harry gave him a hard look and said "Cedric is a good guy. Just because his Dad is extrememly proud of him, doesn't mean he soaks up the attention." Ron only further scoffed and said, "Come on, Harry, He's also a Hufflepuuff, you know that Hufflepufs are pretty lame."

Harry's face got harder as he said "And you think I care about that? About someone being 'lame'? And Cedric is pretty cool, anyway." Ron looked shocked. Just as Ron was about to say something, Cedric slipped through the door. "Finally up I see." Cedric teased. Harry left the room, throwing a "Be back in a second" over his shoulder.

When he came back from the bathroom, he saw that Ron and Cedric were in a heated conversation over Quidditch. Harry smiled, relived that Ron had a change of heart. Then they heard the most horrible, unnerving thing over.

"RONALD WEASLY! I DON'T WANT TO CALL YOU DOWN HERE ONE MORE TIME, YOUNG MAN!" Ron's mother screeched from downstairs. Ron paled and said "Bloody hell! I'll be right back!" and he bolted out the door.

Harry gave a sideways, sheepish smile and said, "Uhh… how long was I asleep?" Cedric chuckled and said "Only a few hours. It doesn't matter, but I should have been sleeping in my own room- my dad's leaving me here until school. I probably would have been sleeping longer then you had the adults not come up and dragged me out of the here." Harry's brows furrowed. "What happened?"

Cedirc sighed and continued, "I was told I wasn't starting off on the right foot just falling asleep wherever I pleased. Though it was comfortable. You're quite the cuddler, Harry." Harry paused with humiliation and he went red. "Ah, Cedric, I'm really sorry, that must have been really awkward for you, I can't believe I did that-" "Harry, Harry! I was joking! We were on opposite sides of the bed!"

The redness in Harry's face slowly faded away and he tried to play it off. "Haha, of course! That would have been really strange…" They were silent for a moment and then Cedric decided to break the tension.

"Yeah, haha… I hope what I got for lunch was good. You've probably tried a wide variety of foods. Does your muggle family give you lots of different things to try?" Harry thought for a minute

**+FLASHBACK+**

"Harry, get the situation broom! The casserole exploded in the oven again!" Ms. Figgs screamed from the kitchen. Harry grabbed a slightly charred broom and ran into the kitchen, ready to attack. He beat the flames on the floor down with the broom, scattering ash and raw food everywhere. When he was done he stood completely covered in filth.

"Okay, Harry… lets order out. Again. Do you want… pizza, tacos, spaghetti, or maybe some chop suey." Harry sighed. Although he always ate better at Ms. Figgs house, the melodramatic fire explosions were tiring.

**+END FLASHBACK+**

"Uhh… yea! That's exactly right!" Harry said awkwardly. 'Merlin why am I surrounded by so many stupid people?' he thought.

"That's good. Hey, let's go down for dinner, I don't want Mrs. Weasly to have to call us down."

**+ TWO WEEKS LATER+**

Harry lay on his bed, starring at the Ceiling. They'd have to board the train to school tomorrow. Harry slightly shivered as he remembered what Mr. Weasly had told him about Sirius Black. Why him? Why was Sirius Black after him, why was it that EVERY YEAR he ended up with some kind of horrible danger lurking over his head. He could hardly wait to be back inside Hogwart's walls.


	5. Chapter E

There was a knock at the door. "Come in." Harry said, not looking up from his Quidditch book. cedric slipped through the crack of the door and shut it gingerly behind himself. "Ready for the new school year?" Harry Nodded, putting his book aside to have better conversation. "Excited for your fifth year, Cedric?"

Cedric shrugged as enthusiastically as he could. "As excited as I can be, what with all the homework and late night's I'll have to look forward to. And what about you? I can hardly believe you're a third year. You look much older than 13; I'd even take you for someone my year!"

Harry grinned slightly. "Hah, I get that a lot recently. I must be considerably less baby faced from last year." Cedric walked over to Harry's suitcase, lightly eyeing it. "Got everything packed?" "Yeah, did it all hours ago." Cedric stuck his fingers through the bars of Hedwig's cage to pet her a little. "Make sure you get enough sleep for tomorrow, okay? You know, start off the year with good footing." Harry nodded absently mindedly, used to the whole 'pay attention in class' and 'eat your vegetables' routine that Mrs. Weasley had given him so many times. Cedric stretched and headed for the door. "Goodnight, Harry, see you bright and early tomorrow." Before exiting, Cedric turned around and said, "By the way; if you need help with anything, say homework or such, feel free to come to me. Just thought I'd throw that out there."

+THE NEXT MORNING+

Harry, Hermione, Cedric, and the Weasleys arrived at the platform just in time to board the train. The trio ended up sitting with a sleeping man, Professor Remus. "And furthermore, it's in Crookshank's nature! It can't be helped!" Hermione said in a frustrated tone.

"Well, just keep that beast away from poor old Scabbers! He's not getting any younger, and Crookshanks attacking him will probably give him a heart attack." Ron warned. Harry then said heatedly "TYou two, there are more important things to worry about!" He then told Ron and Hermione everything about Sirius Black. They both looked terrified after he was finished.

Before they could continue the train stopped suddenly. The lights flickered off and the train continued to jolt, the windows icing over. "W-whats happening?" Hermione shuddered, looking around nervously.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared in the hallway, grasping at the door to their compartment. An emptiness filled them all as the hooded figure turned towards Harry. A screaming seems to bounce off the walls in Harry's head and he became immobile, and soon afterwards, unconscious.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Harry? Harry, are you alright? Don't sit up; just stay there for a moment." He heard a familiar voice. Harry let out a pain-filled groan, and felt a warm calming hand rest on his forehead. He opened his eyes and saw the worried face of Ron and Hermione. "Nhh… what…?" Harry couldn't finish his sentence when an older man leaned into him. "Here, this will help. Don't worry, it's just chocolate. I'll be back after I talk to the conductor."

Harry took a small bite and felt some warmth come back to him. He sat up and said "What happened?" "You passed out mate!" Ron exclained. "Yes, Professor Lupin here chased away that… thing." Suddenly Cedric came running down the hallway and into their small compartment, kneeling down to Harry.

"What was that thing?" Harry shivered. "A Dementor." Lupin said darkly. That was the first time Harry saw Cedric's grey eyes storm over with anger. "I've never actually seen one until now but it's heard all about them." Cedric said solemnly. Lupin grimly explained to them what Dementors really did. Hermione clutched a hand over her mouth, Ron look scared out of his wit, and Harry felt sick to him stomach.

Cedric helped Harry to his feet and Professor Lupin said, "I'm going to go talk to the conductor. Eat up that chocolate." As soon as he left Cedric looked and saw the frightened faces of the younger students. "I'll stay here, if you all want." Hermione slowly nodded, her arms wrapped around herself, and the boys silently agreed, but weren't willing to admit their fear out loud.


	6. Chapter F

It's been a long time, to say the least. I started this fanfiction back in 2008, when I was in 8th grade, or maybe even freshman year. Now I'm going into my senior year of highschool and I've decided to continue this story. Well, three years in quite a long time, so I've gone back and re-read the 10 chapters I had originally written. I quickly realized they were absolute shit. I've spent the past few days re-writing them so that there isn't so much 'kawaii'-ness and Harry isn't such a stupid uke. For anyone still interested, please go back and re-read the chapters and expect a new chapter within the next few days. I'd update it tonight, but I don't think that gives everyone enough time to get this update. I'd like to thank those who have remained interested in this nonsense of a fic, and I hope to make it less full of dumb, hah.


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